Paul Newman

They were words that Stan Wawrinka had probably never uttered before. Asked here on Monday morning, in the wake of his victory over Rafael Nadal in the final of the Australian Open, whether he had spoken to his friend and fellow Swiss Roger Federer, Wawrinka replied: “I talked last night with him. I just said that when I had time I would call him back.”

There was not a hint of arrogance in those
words - the new world No 3 is much too good and much too humble a man for that
- but the reality is that Wawrinka is now the Swiss No 1. Not that the man
himself sees himself as superior to Federer in any way.

“I really don’t care [about becoming Swiss
No 1] because when you’re No 2 after Roger it’s really not a problem,” Wawrinka
said. “He’s the best player ever. I will always feel that I am No 2 behind him.
For me it’s more about being No 3 in the world. That’s really big and something
amazing.

“I don’t think a lot of people in
Switzerland were expecting me to win a Grand Slam. That’s simple. Until last
year I wasn’t close at all. My best result in a Grand Slam was making the
quarter-finals, so I was far away from winning a Grand Slam title. All my
career, I’ve been on the tour when Roger was already there. In a way that was good
because he was taking all the attention and I could do my own things and
concentrate on my own career.”

Wawrinka, who admitted he had had little
sleep after celebrating long into the night, said that even last year, when he
reached the semi-finals of the US Open before losing to Djokovic, he had not
thought he had it in him to win a Grand Slam title. “Even if I had won that
match I would have had to play Rafa in the final,” he said. “For me that was
too much. That’s why I always say I had never dreamed about winning a Grand
Slam. For me it was just not my level.”

So why had everything finally come right
for him this year? “I think it’s because of what I’ve been doing for many
years. I always try to improve. I always practise hard, try to play better, try
to improve my game, try to find solutions. It’s just my time. I’m 28, I’m more
mature, I understand better when I win and when I lose and why.”

Monday’s updated world rankings list
saw some notable changes, with Wawrinka at No 3, Juan Martin del Potro at No 4
and Andy Murray and Federer down to No 6 and No 8 respectively. Wawrinka said
that a number of the other top players now believe that they can challenge the
game’s Big Four for the major honours.

“I think they were already saying that
last year,” Wawrinka said. “We were thinking that the four major guys were
still there, were still amazing players, but we had more chances to beat them.
We hadn’t won a Grand Slam but we were close to them. I think we all realised
that it could be possible to do something big.”

Nevertheless he added: “When you’re No 3
and you win a Grand Slam, a journalist will expect you to say: ‘Now I want to
be No 1.’ But I feel that is so far from me, so far from my level. That’s why
it’s not my goal, that’s why I have to take time for myself, alone, with my
family, with my team, to see exactly how I am going to deal with that for the
rest of the year.”

Nevertheless, Wawrinka admitted that his
own expectations would now rise. “I realise that when I play my best tennis I
can beat Novak, I can beat Rafa, in a Grand Slam, in a final, in a semi-final,”
he said.

Might the likes of Tomas Berdych and
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga now emulate Wawrinka by winning a Grand Slam title? “I
always thought before this week that they were closer than me to win a Grand
Slam,” Wawrinka said. “But it’s tough. The big four, even if they’re not top
four any more, they’ve been there for many years, winning everything.”

Wawrinka was asked what it would be like
to return here next year and see his photograph on the wall, alongside those of
other past champions. “The first thing I will do is take a picture of myself,”
he said. “It’s big when I see all those champions. For me, they are the real
champions. To be there is just something crazy.”